1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments relate to the field of substrate patterning an more particularly to processing patterned substrates with ions.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Modern devices such as processors, semiconductor memory, magnetic, optical and other storage devices, as well as microelectomechanical (MEMS) devices continue to scale to smaller dimensions, which affords greater performance, efficiency, and economy. In order to facilitate shrinking of device dimensions patterning techniques such as lithography and etching, and substrate cleaning continue to undergo improvement. However, the shrinking of device dimensions places challenges on various substrate processing techniques in particular because of the absolute size of substrate features as well as aspect ratio and material properties of such features. In one example ion beam or plasma processing have found increasing use for etch and cleaning steps for various substrate device technologies.
In the example of bit patterned media, ion beam processing has been identified as a technique for cleaning as well as magnetic deadening of device structures. However, such ion beam processing may introduce damage to sidewall structures caused by straggle of implanted ions. In the case of patterning of magnetic random access memory (MRAM) one type of cleaning step requires the removal of residue within a gap between adjacent fin-like structures. Because straggle or lateral movement of implanted ions scales with the implanted ion energy, the use of ion beams to clean such structures may require the use of very low energy for present day device dimensions to ensure that unwanted damage, such as sidewall damage, is minimized. Such low ion energy however, may compromise the cleaning or etch process in regions of the structures where cleaning is desired.